Abigail and Brittany Hensel
| Abby & Brittany Hensel | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Abigail Loraine Hensel Brittany Lee Hensel March 7, 1990 New Germany, Minnesota |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Lutheran High School in Mayer, Minnesota; Bethel University |
| Parent(s) | Patty and Mike Hensel |
| Relatives | Dakota (brother) Morgan (sister) |
Abigail Loraine "Abby" Hensel and Brittany Lee Hensel (born March 7, 1990) are American dicephalic parapagus twins; in other words, they are conjoined twins, each of whom has a separate head, but whose bodies are joined. They are highly symmetric for conjoined twins, giving the appearance of having a single body without marked variation from normal proportions. In fact, several vital organs are doubled; each twin has a separate heart, stomach, spine, lungs, and spinal cord.
Each twin controls her half of their body, operating one arm and one leg. As infants, the initial learning of physical processes that required bodily coordination, such as clapping, crawling, and walking, required the cooperation of both twins. While they can eat and write separately and simultaneously, activities such as running and swimming require them to coordinate and alternate their actions symmetrically. Other activities as diverse as brushing hair and driving a car require each twin to perform separate actions that coordinate with the other's.
Due to the curiosity that their condition generated, the twins' progress as they were growing up was covered in a number of popular media, including Life magazine and The Oprah Winfrey Show. At the age of 16, they gave an interview on The Learning Channel on December 17, 2006, in which they discussed aspects of their daily lives and plans for the future. They starred in their own Abby & Brittany reality series on TLC in 2012.
The twins were born in Carver County, Minnesota, to Patty, a registered nurse, and Mike Hensel, a carpenter and landscaper. They have a younger brother and sister. They were raised in New Germany, Minnesota, attended Lutheran High School in Mayer, and graduated from Bethel University in St. Paul in 2012.
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